EU proposes expanded privileges for outermost territories as Spain seeks equal status for Ceuta and Melilla

On Thursday, the European Commission announced a set of special measures for its outermost regions, including tax relief, agricultural support and changes to asylum procedures, targeting islands and territories in the Caribbean Sea, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. Executive vice-president Raffaele Fitto described the initiative as a way to harness the geostrategic potential of these areas and strengthen their role as gateways for trade, security and defence.

The plan covers French overseas departments such as Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion, as well as the Portuguese Azores and Madeira and Spain's Canary Islands. Concurrently, Spain urged that its North African enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, be accorded the same outermost-region status. The proposal also addresses rising irregular migration to the French territories that lie outside the Schengen zone, proposing revised immigration and asylum rules.